Vlatko Ilievski passes away at age 33

Sad news within the Eurovision world today as we farewell a former performer. Vlatko Ilievski was found in his car deceased on the 3rd Macedonian Brigade Boulevard by police. As of yet, there is no comment on the cause of death, but it is a sad loss for the Macedonian music industry.

Only five days after his 33rd birthday, Vlatko’s life was tragically cut short. The Macedonian rock singer started his career at the age of 15, where he won two prizes at the Macedonian Rock Fest. Since then, he enjoyed success across his home nation, having performed concerts with crowds of over 10,000.

We were first introduced to Vlatko at Eurovision back in 2011, where he performed the song Rusinka. Unfortunately, it failed to reach the final, finishing with 36 points.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time we have seen a talented Macedonian artist pass away with more to give to the music industry. Toše Proeski, who represented FYR Macedonia back in 2004 passed away in a car crash in 2007 at the age of 26 and in the prime of his career. Back in 2016 we lost Macedonian icon Esma Redžepova who was nicknamed Queen of the Gypsies after a lengthy career performing gypsy-folk music, however used her platform to promote Roma culture.